Israeli security chiefs and Arab leaders agree: Trump’s plan is a disaster
Palestinian security force detachment
Yossi Melman reports in Middle East Eye:
From a strict security point of view, Israel, the Palestinian Authority (PA) and practically all Arab governments share the same estimate that the Trump Middle East plan is bad and so dangerous that it could set the region in flames.
Over the past week, Israeli security chiefs have expressed a growing concern that if the right-wing government of Benjamin Netanyahu fulfills its Donald Trump-supported promise to annex the Jordan Valley and Jewish settlements, the West Bank and Gaza Strip could explode.
In secret meetings Israeli security officials from the Shin Bet domestic security agency and military tried to calm down their Palestinian counterparts, urging them to wait and not rush to unilateral decisions. The major Israeli security concern is that the PA leadership will decide to stop its security cooperation with the occupying Israeli forces. Both sides benefit from this cooperation. Israeli security agencies are assisted by the PA’s security apparatus to monitor, reduce and prevent attacks planned by Hamas.
At the same time the Shin Bet and Israeli military work hard to stop attempts by Hamas officials in their Gaza headquarters to destabilise the West Bank and undermine PA rule there.
Israeli security officials’ message of “don’t rush” is based on hints given in these meetings that, even if the Netanyahu government passes an annexation bill, there are so many legal, political and international hurdles that it will be almost impossible to implement the decision before the Israeli elections due to be held in a month’s time. In other words, Israeli security officials in secret and off-the-record meetings express views that contradict public statements made by their own government.
But because they can’t say it publicly, the PA’s President Mahmoud Abbas has to stick by the party line and express his anger and frustration at the apparent looming annexation, repeating threats that security cooperation will be halted.
Double speak
The double speak by Israeli and Palestinian officials echoes the positions of Arab governments. Across the Arab world from Rabat to Cairo and Oman to Baghdad, Arab leaders have the same view on Israel’s occupation of Palestinian lands: “Don’t rock the boat.”